Bibliolatry and John 1
Reading the opening verses of John's gospel, I am reminded how incredible the incarnation is. That is just how amazing it is that in Jesus is what a life full of God looks like - Jesus is God incarnate.
As great as the Bible is, let us be very clear, the Bible is not the greatest revelation of God. John is very clear that the greatest way we know God is not through scriptures but through the Word made flesh (aka - Jesus).
The UMC has a tradition of holding the scriptures as one of the four corners of the quadrilateral. You may have heard it before that the UMC "does" theology using scripture, tradition, experience and reason. But again, for clarity sake, these four sources, even if they are combined, are not even close to being on par with the Word made flesh.
So while we read the Word, let us not be confused. John is not talking about the written words on a page. John is not talking about the Bible. John in not talking about any scripture at all. John is talking about Jesus Christ.
We do not worship the Bible. We worship Christ, whom we understand to be the Word made flesh.
In our efforts to better understand Jesus, let us not forget that the Bible is but a finger pointing to the moon that is Christ. Do not confuse the finger with the beauty and complexity of the moon.
As great as the Bible is, let us be very clear, the Bible is not the greatest revelation of God. John is very clear that the greatest way we know God is not through scriptures but through the Word made flesh (aka - Jesus).
The UMC has a tradition of holding the scriptures as one of the four corners of the quadrilateral. You may have heard it before that the UMC "does" theology using scripture, tradition, experience and reason. But again, for clarity sake, these four sources, even if they are combined, are not even close to being on par with the Word made flesh.
So while we read the Word, let us not be confused. John is not talking about the written words on a page. John is not talking about the Bible. John in not talking about any scripture at all. John is talking about Jesus Christ.
We do not worship the Bible. We worship Christ, whom we understand to be the Word made flesh.In our efforts to better understand Jesus, let us not forget that the Bible is but a finger pointing to the moon that is Christ. Do not confuse the finger with the beauty and complexity of the moon.
Jobs within the job
A few of the full-time jobs within the call of a senior minister in the UMC (alphabetically):
- Administrator
- Chaplin
- Councilor
- Consultant
- Custodian
- Emergency responder
- Event planner
- Funeral director
- Fundraiser
- Hospitality coordinator
- Middle manager
- Marketer
- Preacher
- Publicist
- Social worker
- Sociologist
- Spiritual guru
- Teacher
- Wedding coordinator
Medium is the message - Real life
She and I disagree on a number of theological ideas. She might identify more Calvinist and Modern while I might identify with Arminius and Post-modern. We differ on our atonement theories and our understandings of most things ranging from, I would suspect, sexual orientation to political engagement.
It is often the case that to encountered someone from the "other tribe" is to find in them an enemy, but the fact of the matter is I have nothing but respect for her.
She is devoted to her local church. She volunteers when able. She leads a weekly Bible study in which she is the lead teacher for hundreds of women. She has devoted her life and time living into her understanding of the Christian life. I wish that my local Church had more people like her.
Some of my fellow UMC clergy around the conference would find this next statement shocking, but while she and I disagree on a number of political, theological and social issues, I would allow her to teach in a Church I serve.
Why?
The medium, that is to say her life, is a message that is deeply loving and caring and hope-filled. Her life is a message that is powerful and ought to be shared.
This is where the idea of the medium is the message matters in the Church.
You could have your "theological message" in line with me or even the UMC, but if your life, if you as a the medium for that message, is not Gospel, know that I would take someone who I disagree with in message content but agree with in medium any day.
It is often the case that to encountered someone from the "other tribe" is to find in them an enemy, but the fact of the matter is I have nothing but respect for her.
She is devoted to her local church. She volunteers when able. She leads a weekly Bible study in which she is the lead teacher for hundreds of women. She has devoted her life and time living into her understanding of the Christian life. I wish that my local Church had more people like her.
Some of my fellow UMC clergy around the conference would find this next statement shocking, but while she and I disagree on a number of political, theological and social issues, I would allow her to teach in a Church I serve.
Why?
The medium, that is to say her life, is a message that is deeply loving and caring and hope-filled. Her life is a message that is powerful and ought to be shared.
This is where the idea of the medium is the message matters in the Church.
You could have your "theological message" in line with me or even the UMC, but if your life, if you as a the medium for that message, is not Gospel, know that I would take someone who I disagree with in message content but agree with in medium any day.
Be the change by Jason Valendy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.